Inspired Henin-Hardenne opens with gritty win

World No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne was even more quietly spoken than normal yesterday, but she revealed the feeling of heartache over losing her mother to cancer nine years ago had evolved into inspiration.

In her first-round match after a season break, she stuttered against Conchita Martinez in windy conditions at Sydney Olympic Park before winning 6-4, 6-1.

Not only has Henin-Hardenne toughened up physically in the past few months, she has also shored up her emotional state outside tennis.

Last year it was about settling down with her husband Pierre-Yves and resisting calls for a family reunion with her estranged father and brother. This year it is about giving her spare time to teenagers with cancer.

"I just have had very hard experiences in the past, I lose my mum from cancer and I think children are the most beautiful things on earth and that is why I chose (to support) children who are sick," she said.

Henin-Hardenne established her own charity last month, which has had the unexpected benefit of repositioning her thinking.

"It is easier when you lose just to think it is not everything. So, it is very important for myself and I think now is a good time, I feel it is the right time for me to do it," she said. "If I can just help them a little bit, if they can forget a little bit of their problems for one day, for me it is a great result.

"It is probably my best victory you know. Winning the French Open, the US Open doesn't mean a lot of things when you see children like that."

When pressed on technical aspects of her game, Henin-Hardenne agreed she had to work on her concentration and to be ready for every point. "But the first match of the season is not easy all the time, there were a few problems today, but it will work out,"' she said.

Meanwhile, Lindsay Davenport, who is now emerging as an Australian Open contender as she regathers her top form after a struggle last year with foot surgery and a hamstring strain, lost the first set against Russian Vera Zvonareva but recovered for a 1-6, 6-2, 7-5 win.

The physically intimidating Amelie Mauresmo also thinks she can make an impression in this tournament and in Melbourne later in the month.

"I want to take the chances I am going to have there," Mauresmo said after accounting for American Meghann Shaughnessy 6-2, 6-3.

In Hobart, American Amy Frazier's love affair with Tasmania's biggest tennis tournament grew yesterday as she produced another outstanding performance to reach the semi-finals of the Hobart International. Frazier stormed into the last four for the third straight time, downing Italian Maria Elena Camerin 7-6 (7-2), 6-4.

Puerto Rican Kristina Brandi relied on powerful hitting from both wings in her 6-3, 6-4 victory over Akiko Morigami of Japan.

At the Canberra Women's Classic, third seed Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand was upstaged in her second-round clash, losing to Italian Flavia Pennetta 7-5, 6-2. She was the second seed to bow out yesterday, after sixth seed Marlene Weingartner of Germany, hampered by an abdominal strain, withdrew.